Did the unthinkable and consolidated.

woozywendy

Hi

Well we did it. We consolidated our debts and I feel like I breath again. I have been worrying about making all the payments for a while now and decided to bite the bullet. We have got 3 months payment free and with the extra money I am saving have opened an ISA. All the credit cards are cut up and the letters to cancel them have been posted. Doing this has saved us £200 a month. I know cosolidation is not for everyone and people do not recommend it, but It is not secured on my house and it is not front loaded so we can save to pay it off a bit earlier if we can. It has been a long time since we had any savings and it feels good to know the money is there in an emergency or I can take my children out occasionaly.

kizzykizzywizzy

Hi WW, who am I to judge, you must always do what you think is right for you & you sound sensible enough, by cutting up cards & opening an ISA.
Glad you've cancelled them too, as many a time a new card has come through & we've spent on it .
Consolidation didn't work for us, but that was because we weren't in the right mindset & just did the same as before & spent:eek:
This time we've had to make a lot of sacrifices to pay the debt off, don't ever want to have to do that again, so I know I won't get into debt, consolidation was just too easy for me & didn't teach me any lessons.
Good Luck to you & your family - hope you can sleep better now:T

bringmeshoes

i am also one of the few people who consolidation worked for. when i was leaving uni i had no-where to go and bad credit (due to being homelss and not being on electoral roll) so i had to put my first months rent & deposit (aswell as other things) on my credit cards, last year when my credit score increased i got a loan to pay off cards, i can pay this off over 5 years rather than the 18 i was looking at paying the same amount off cards. i cancelled one card and kept 1 for emergencies, and if i do have to use it i ALWAYS pay it off in full

GhostHunter_3

I know it isn't advised but can someone please give me some companies that will give someone like me a loan? I have a bad credit score but no ccj, defaults or anything like that on there. I have until recently kept repayments up to dat. I rent our bungalow so cant get a secured loan anywhere.

I know its not always the answer and may take longer for me to pay off but I do feel a consolidation loan will help and we will have a bit more finacial freedome and security.

Can someone please tell me where I can apply to?

Many thanks.

:eek:

woozywendy

We got our loan through Tesco. We thought long and hard before we applied. We cleared 4 credit cards and an overdraft. The worry of wondering if I am going to have enough to pay any of the credit cards has gone. I do not think it was the cards that were worrying me, it was the large overdraft and the fact that they could call it in at anytime.

Buffythedebtslayer

I got a good loan from Egg,

I only rent too. Before that I got a loan from American Express, Barlcays

do beware of consolidation - for example my egg can ebe paid off early and has a fixed rate of interest.

xx

GhostHunter_3

Thanks. I tried Tesco about 3 months ago and a few more in past year, even tried another credit card as I thought of ballance transfer of 3 ards into 1 (kind of like a loan) and got refused, probably due to bad credit score beforehand. I have thought long and hard about this and although I dont really want another loan its the sleepless nights and burden I cant live with any longer.

I would prefer to pay almost the same amount as I am to pay off individual credit cards and loan as I am now to repay 1 consolidation debt. It means I have less to worry about.

Thanks for advice

:eek:

itsnever2lateisit?

GhostHunter wrote: »

Thanks. I tried Tesco about 3 months ago and a few more in past year, even tried another credit card as I thought of ballance transfer of 3 ards into 1 (kind of like a loan) and got refused, probably due to bad credit score beforehand. I have thought long and hard about this and although I dont really want another loan its the sleepless nights and burden I cant live with any longer.

I would prefer to pay almost the same amount as I am to pay off individual credit cards and loan as I am now to repay 1 consolidation debt. It means I have less to worry about.

Thanks for advice

:eek:

As you have been refused recently it might be best to obtain your credit report and have a look to see what the problem is

ltm07

woozywendy wrote: »

Hi

Well we did it. We consolidated our debts and I feel like I breath again. I have been worrying about making all the payments for a while now and decided to bite the bullet. We have got 3 months payment free and with the extra money I am saving have opened an ISA. All the credit cards are cut up and the letters to cancel them have been posted. Doing this has saved us £200 a month. I know cosolidation is not for everyone and people do not recommend it, but It is not secured on my house and it is not front loaded so we can save to pay it off a bit earlier if we can. It has been a long time since we had any savings and it feels good to know the money is there in an emergency or I can take my children out occasionaly.

Hi & good luck! We nearly bit the bullet too a couple of months ago,but we are glad we didn't. Saying that we have been lucky to have been accepted while applying for 0% CC's & low LOB ones(apart fom Virgin:mad: )! We have decided to see our DFW journey through & should clear our debts within the next four to five years & pay around £7-£8k interest at most. If we had consolidated we would have paid £22k! Would have been nice for us to free up another £400 odd a month,but once DF we will free up £700-£800. That said I guess we don't know what's around the corner so it will be nice for you to free up some cash. We have changed our lifestyles big time by cutting back,but are not going without too much,just no longer waste our cash & are content with what we have. I'll be honest & say it did start getting to us a couple of months back,but we pulled through & we do manage to get by & allow ourselves some treats,meals out etc,but no longer(me in particular) long for the big house,nice car etc. If having the odd luxury does put our DFD back a little then so be it,but we're glad we rode the storm. All the best & you have to do what's best for you & your family.